Cancelled games we hope to see remade for PS4

While it would be easy to believe that only the absolute best ideas get turned into games (which in theory might go on to become big hits), the truth is, some of the most intriguing concepts never see the light of day. With each successive console (generation) there are plenty of specific examples of titles being “snuffed out” before their time, even with ample numbers of eager fans on board.

The point is, you’ve probably already encountered this phenomenon already with a game that you had been waiting and hoping developers would be able to push into post-production. Often times these cancellations are due to bad moves within management, misallocation of funds, or even the loss of critical personnel – whatever the reason, it’s always a real let down for all involved parties. Naturally, it would be foolish to assume that a developer would willingly jump into a scenario where they stand to lose a lot of investment capital (or perhaps tarnish their reputation) on a game that isn’t likely to turn much of a profit for them. No one is pointing fingers here; hey, these things happen, don’t they?

Hope might be on the horizon though. Due to the large number of independent and smaller development companies who are taking more of an active role in creating games for the PS4, we might begin to see some of them pick up where some others left off. This is of course all to Sony’s credit, really. Part of the development criteria for the PS4 related to making sure that it would lend itself well toward more simple and straightforward development. In other words, it would seem that Sony wants to super-charge the game makers. Not only is this great news for the entire video game industry, it means that fans and players will be treated to a wider spectrum of software to choose from as well (and on an extremely powerful console, no less).

Taking a look back on some of the more interesting-looking cancelled PS3 titles, the mind begins to wonder if many of them would translate well to the PS4 platform. Anyway, here are some of them that we’d like to see remade for Sony’s new flagship console…

Although it might seem like a rather well-traveled theme, the idea of assuming the role of “Dirty Harry” (perhaps one of Clint Eastwood’s most famous roles) might have really been interesting. Ideally, you’d want to have free reign to explore a massive open world environment with similar mechanics as found in Rockstar’s “GTA V”, “L.A. Noire” or “Red Dead Redemption”. Naturally, whenever a movie tie-in title is put into production, attempts to recreate the magic of the silver screen usually results in a lackluster game where you’re essentially “on rails”. But just imagine how cool it might be to integrate the sort of dark mood of the Dirty Harry universe with the action and detective-based gameplay in a city full of punks. Who knows, maybe The Collective Inc. and Warner Bros. will resurrect this video game project if / when they start visualizing some type of Dirty Harry movie remake (you know it’s probably only a matter of time as they’ve remade almost every other noteworthy movie at this point).

Technically speaking, Frontier Development’s “The Outsider” wasn’t cancelled, it was placed on hold, but nevertheless, it should probably still be featured here for all intents and purposes. The game itself was billed as a “techno thriller” where you assume the role of a CIA agent who’s been set up and turned into a fugitive. Of course the concept of the game is to place you in this situation, possibly in an open world setting, and then let you figure out what to do and how to deal with everything. If you think about it, this sort of game could easily lend itself to quite a few “Jason Bourne-ish” moments and if there were multiple endings based on how you handled everything, well, how cool would that be? The game’s developers wanted to make a truly next gen title which would free players from the dualism of having to choose clear cut paths, let’s hope that they get their chance.

If you had to pick one game that a lot of PS2 fans are probably most excited to see roll off the assembly line it would have to be “Beyond Good and Evil 2”. Not only was the first installment a very engaging and even somewhat emotionally riveting experience, it left a lot of questions unanswered. Ubisoft had originally planned on turning the BG and E series into a trilogy but things sort of took a left turn somewhere and they put it on hold to deal with other projects. Nevertheless, many people feel that the original Beyond Good and Evil was a truly awesome platformer which deserves some more attention from its developer. It would seem that action has been taken, because in May of 2012, Michel Ancel revealed that “the game had entered an 'active' development stage specifically for next-gen consoles”.

If you're a fan of the GTA series, then I'm sure you'd want the following title to be made for PS4, which is "The Getaway 3". This title would be the third in the series, again set in London, and a short demo of the game was unveiled at E3 back in 2005, which featurd Piccadilly Circus . This game has apparently been put on hold rather than be totally cancelled, so it's totally possible that we could see this eventually release on PlayStation 4.

If you never played “Shadow of the Colossus” or “Ico” on PS2 / PS3 then you really don’t know what you’re missing, they’re really great. Subsequent to completion of the former (SotC), Team Ico began working on a new game called “The Last Guardian”. In short, it would further expand upon the formula developed by the team with their first two titles while integrating better gameplay and graphics as required. This alone should pique your interests. All is not lost however, word has it that the game is now back in active development since early 2013.

Last but certainly not least we have “The Lord of the Rings: The White Council”, which sounded like every fantasy RPG gamer’s dream title. Imagine being given free reign to explore middle earth as you please amongst advanced A.I. supplied courtesy of what was used to create games like “The SIMS 2”. In short, this could very well be the game that could dethrone the “Elder Scrolls” series, especially if it were fairly well done. Currently, there aren’t any public plans to continue making this intriguing game, but one cannot help but think that such a concept would be perfect for a powerful next-generation console like the PS4.